Portland building department

Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D), formerly the Bureau of Development Services, issues building, trade, and related development permits inside Portland city limits. It also issues building permits for some unincorporated Multnomah County land west and north of Portland. Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, Wood Village, and Maywood Park run their own permit offices, so a Portland mailing address doesn’t settle which agency applies.

Development Hub PDX

Development Hub PDX (DevHub) is the city’s online permitting portal. After signing in or registering, you can apply for and view permits, pay fees, and schedule inspections. The DevHub help pages link step-by-step guides for submitting permit requests, uploading corrections (a process the city recently changed), trade permits, and tree permits. Permit notices come from portlandoregon.gov addresses, which the city says often land in junk mail, so add that domain to your allow list.

Trade contractors: Before applying for an electrical, mechanical, or plumbing permit, confirm that your Oregon Construction Contractors Board license and your Oregon Building Codes Division license are active. The city says inactive licenses cause delays.

Before you apply, the city’s “do you need a permit” pages for residential, commercial, and trade work list submittal requirements. For help, you can book a 15-minute appointment with permitting staff, use the city’s online contact form, or call the main help line at 503-823-7300.

Temporary fee exemptions and rule suspensions

DevHub currently flags two time-limited programs that can change the cost of a project:

• System development charge (SDC) exemption: From August 15, 2025 through September 30, 2028, permits for newly created housing units may be exempt from SDCs under certain conditions.
• Rule suspensions: From October 24, 2025 through January 1, 2029, the city has suspended certain requirements for residential and commercial projects that add to or alter existing development. These cover street tree planting, street improvements such as sidewalks, curbs, and ramps, seismic evaluations, and site upgrades.

Check whether either applies before budgeting a housing, addition, or remodel project.

Inspections

Schedule inspections in DevHub or follow the options on the city’s schedule-inspection page. That page lists a 24-hour IVR line at 503-823-7000, residential inspection support at 503-823-7388, and commercial inspection support at 503-823-7303.

Residential customers can see the day’s scheduled inspection time window after 8 a.m. by entering the IVR or application number on Portland Maps permit search. Don’t cover work until the required inspection is approved. Final building, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and other approvals may be needed before a project is complete or ready for occupancy. See building inspection stages for general background.

Septic, sewer, and county-area projects

The City of Portland manages on-site sewage disposal and septic systems throughout Multnomah County, not just inside the city (503-823-6892, [email protected]). Sewer permits countywide are handled by the Portland Bureau of Transportation. For building permits on unincorporated land that Portland serves, Multnomah County Land Use Planning does the zoning review of building plans, and the county’s land use approvals come first.

Records and office location

Use Portland Maps to research addresses and permit history. Some historic permits appear under its “Historic Permits” link. The permitting office’s public counter is listed at 1900 SW 4th Avenue, First Floor Lobby, Portland, OR 97201, with the main number 503-823-7300.